Comments on: BlackBerry Storm gets official pricing and release date

Verizon Wireless officially announces the release date and pricing on the highly anticipated RIM BlackBerry Storm.

[big.mouth]

This is a really impressive looking phone, but no wifi = TOTAL FAILURE. Those who keep questioning why wifi is necessary are total NOOBS. There are MANY times when 3G just isn't fast enough or wastes too much battery to be workable. Stop being fanboys and girls and hold RIM accountable for this pathetic oversight.

[bachenheimer]

NOOBS? REALLY? I am on a computer more than 8 hours a day. I need a cell phone that works, will hold my extensive calendar and contact list, and surf the internet. I do not hang out in coffee shops, I have no time. I do not surf the internet at restaurants while dining with friends. I do not wish to surf via wifi in a public place like an airport, library or a bus station for security purposes. My cell phone is not a desktop/laptop replacement so I won't waste your time trying to imply that it is. If I am at home, I will use the computer with a 20 inch screen. If I am riding the bus to work, I will tether the Storm to my laptop and get some real work done. So why the Storm? Storm can do everything an iphone can do, plus better integration with Outlook and email. But most importantly, the phone must not drop calls. Verizon is a more comprehensive network and essentially fewer dropped calls. I have been an AT&T customer for years, and I am tired of the coverage.

[Ms.Google]

This is to reply to Gregg Pearson's comments. Let's wait for the phone to actually come out and start performing before you go and give it praise.

And second, there's no Wi Fi for it. That blows big time.

[Michael_Cim]

I'll be getting the Storm for sure. If I were able to receive my work e mail through an enterprise server on an iPhone then I would possibly do the iPhone, but since I can't the Storm is my choice.

It's funny how worked up people get about a phone...It's just a phone people....

[Dalmatian28]

I love the phone, love the quality of the service that Verizon provides but ....if they continue down this road they will start charging customers for saying the word "Verizon" , or just looking at their phones will be enough to hand you higher bill!!!! Where does it stops???? Did you guys notice last couple changes in their pricing??? They are making mobile phones a reach man's toy again! I just hate what is happening! I hope that the "white space thing" puts some pressure on them!

[Chiatzu]

I will wait for Bonnie Cha (Cha Cha) to do a proper review and comparison of the iPhone & Storm before making a decision. Fear the Cha.

[tyler_rocks_09]

Verizon is too add around 1 million people with this new BlackBerry.

The money you pay for Verizon, it ALL gets put into the network! Every dime!

Thats why were the best, and it WILL pay off.

Verizon has so many wokers to keep everything running. If everyone could see what work Verizon does for our network, it would make sense.

Now that alltel is with us, start seeing more GOOD changes in Phones, service, and plans.

[mostinc]

I just don't understand this market brainwashing about touchscreens. They are great in the proper application but a cell phone/pda (smartphone) is not one of them. Also, using anything other than a capacitive touchscreen is a mistake for performance and appearance. The iPhone and I think the G1 are capacitive. Resistive, which is the rest of the pack, is slower and has a lag.

There have been touchscreens on smartphones for over 5 years. I had a Treo and later HTC (ATT 8125). I found that for text or email nothing beats a well implemented keyboard on the front below the screen for thumb typing. The slide out keyboards ala HTC line are just bad keyboards and I seldom used mine on the 8125, opting for the probe and the on screen keyboard since it was more reliable. The new FUZE (HTC Diamond), although impressive in specs, has the worst keyboard yet and seems flimsy in design.

With touchscreens you are always putting your finger over what you want to select. This is okay if your screen is PC size and selection icons finger size but try this with a browser on a cell phone where your finger overlaps 5 hotlinks at a time! You find you have to zoom the screen just to get enough space to pick the target you want.

I just bought the Blackberry Bold, my first venture outside of Windows Mobile. I find this phone a dream! The keyboard is the best I have ever used on a PDA style device. The screen is fantastic and the speed exceeds other phones I have used. It is very well engineered and the track ball is an amazing pointing device that never causes obstruction of view...it is easy to select links on a full webpage shrunk to the small screen and resolution is excellent. I vote this the best choice for users who use a smartphone for what is was made for instead of those who just buy it for the ego of the slick interface, ala iPhone, with a serious list of limitations.

So what are it's cons? The browser is a little weak but better than any I have used on other phones and you can run Opera if you desire another browser. It does not open pdf files without third party software and it tends to have difficulty with streaming sources that are designed for the Windows Mobile environment. Finally, someone needs to make the GUI options assignable to application. In this case the trackball speed is to slow for the browser going across a whole page. If you up the speed it is still to slow and then becomes much to sensitive to use with other applications.

I suggest that one try not to get orgasmic over the touchscreen and try both types of devices from a perspective of using it for browsing, email, and text.

[funkball]

Isn't it possible that the Storm will be a worthwhile device AND the iPhone is a good device? I'm astounded by the absurdity of insisting it's one or the other. It's a futile mentality that helps nothing. It just gives people something to argue about, because they seem to have nothing better to do with their time.

Blackberry has made strong devices for years. They finally stepped it up with the last generation of devices Curve/Pearl and attracted a whole new group of users. This is just their next step. There's absolutely nothing wrong with them moving into the touchscreen arena. Anyone who thinks this is purely Apple territory and no one else belongs there is just trying to justify their own purchase. You wouldn't want to feel like you spent all that money only to be trumped by a new player in the market. Take comfort in the fact that competition drives innovation. We all benefit in the end.

For those downing the new Storm, why don't you just wait and see? It's expected that there will be some updates and such to fix early issues, but Apple has consistently pushed out updates to fix issues as well.

Now, why can we not find any info on the processor for the Storm? Not on the Blackberry site, nor on the Verizon site, nor on CNET.

[funkball]

Just found the processor specs on PCMag

"The BlackBerry Storm's CPU board contains a new Qualcomm chipset with a 528 Mhz processor and both EV-DO and HSDPA modems. "

[funkball]

Ok, I just found the processor specs on PCMag

"The BlackBerry Storm's CPU board contains a new Qualcomm chipset with a 528 Mhz processor and both EV-DO and HSDPA modems. "